Barataria – Historia Obscura

Beverly Chew: the Man Behind the Curtain in Early New Orleans

Nov 19, 2015

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Life was good for the New Orleans business firm of Chew & Relf in the early 1800s: young partners Beverly Chew and Richard Relf controlled a virtual monopoly of the banking, shipping, trading, insurance, and smuggling business in the port city until around 1809, when the Laffite brothers came to town, quickly and systematically cutting…

The Saga of Melita and the Patterson-Ross Raid at Barataria

Dec 15, 2014

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Pam Keyes

in American History, general history, History, Louisiana History, Nautical History

A series of unfortunate events plagued Joseph Martinot, supercargo of the Carthagenian merchant schooner Melita. First, he had been stymied in his attempt to enter the Mississippi and arrive at New Orleans by the presence of the British blockade near the Balize; then, off the coast of Louisiana to the westward of the Balize, he…

The Case of the Spanish Prize Ship at Dauphin Island

Dec 8, 2014

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Pam Keyes

in American History, general history, Louisiana History

Capt. Nicholas Lockyer of HMS Sophie was furious when he gave the order to weigh anchor just off Grande Terre island on Sept. 4, 1814. He and his fellow British officers had been released a couple of hours earlier from a sleepless night in a crude, dirty cell where they had been subjected to threats…

Jean Laffite and the Treaty of Ghent — Satirical Editorial of 1814

Sep 18, 2014

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Pam Keyes

in American History, general history, History, Louisiana History, Nautical History

A rare 1828 book about Jean Laffite While angling in the old newspaper archives, the following wonderfully satirical editiorial about Jean Laffite and the War of 1812 Treaty of Ghent negotiations was discovered in the Nov. 11, 1814, issue of the Daily National Intelligencer of Washington, D.C. It was reprinted from the Weekly Aurora newspaper…

Capt. Percy’s Folly at Fort Bowyer

Sep 14, 2014

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Pam Keyes

in American History, general history, History, Louisiana History, Native American History

Young British Capt. William H. Percy found himself in dire straits on the afternoon of Sept. 15, 1814. His ship, the sixth rate class HMS Hermes, was mired for the second time that day on a sand bar in shoal water within 150 yards of Fort Bowyer near Mobile Bay, and the Americans…

The British Visit to Laffite: A Study of Events 200 Years Later

Aug 25, 2014

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Pam Keyes

in American History, general history, History, Louisiana History, Nautical History

When Commander Nicholas Lockyer sailed in HMS Sophie from Pensacola towards Jean Laffite’s Grande Terre encampment on Sept. 1, 1814, he already knew that the Baratarian privateer base might soon be blown to bits, and that the Sophie would not be the instrument of that destruction, despite his written orders to that effect from his…

Commemoration of a Hero: Jean Laffite and the Battle of New Orleans

Mar 6, 2014

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Pam Keyes

in American History, Caribbean History, general history, History, Louisiana History

Almost 200 years ago, privateer-smuggler Jean Laffite became a hero because he did something most people wouldn’t have done: in the face of extreme adversity, he had helped save New Orleans for the Americans, even though United States officers had destroyed his home base and seized his property a few months earlier. Sometimes incorrectly regarded…

Daniel Todd Patterson’s Secret Visits to Dauphin Island in 1814

Nov 24, 2013

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Pam Keyes

in American History, general history, History, Louisiana History

Daniel Todd Patterson, commander of the New Orleans Station, made a curious visit to New Orleans notary John Lynd in late summer 1814 to record a document testifying to his continued assistance with an unnamed stranded ship at Dauphin Island, not far from Mobile. He said in the document that he was assisting the ship…

Tag: Barataria